Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
nytimes.com
Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
1–10 of 53 posts
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#2A problem that could easily be solved by simply prescribing them all heroin. This was successful when it was done in the UK (https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-case-for-prescription-her...) although of course the government eventually shut it down.
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#3Addendum to The Great Universal Basic Income Debate:
A large portion of UBI funds will
get dumped into places like this.Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#4A problem that could easily be solved by simply prescribing them all heroin. This was successful when it was done in the UK ( https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-case-for-prescription-her... ) although of course the government eventually shut it down.
Well, maybe not "easily," but I agree. Worth noting that heroin prescriptions have been happening in Switzerland for going on 20 years now, with excellent results.[1]
The article was fantastic reporting by the way. Hard to read, but difficult to put down once you start.
[1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#5Addendum to The Great Universal Basic Income Debate : A large portion of UBI funds will get dumped into places like this.
Or maybe free from the stressess of poverty they will finally have the stability to get clean.
I hope UBI goes into these places. It will end a lot of misery and give people an escape ladder out of that world.
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#6Addendum to The Great Universal Basic Income Debate : A large portion of UBI funds will get dumped into places like this.
...and? If UBI replaces money obtained from crime, then does the overall social cost rise or diminish?
We have a decent social security system in my country, and as I often like to tell well-off people whinging about their taxes being given to the "spongers" - social security keeps society secure against poor people.
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#7A problem that could easily be solved by simply prescribing them all heroin. This was successful when it was done in the UK ( https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-case-for-prescription-her... ) although of course the government eventually shut it down.
Well, maybe not "easily," but I agree. Worth noting that heroin prescriptions have been happening in Switzerland for going on 20 years now, with excellent results.[1] The article was fantastic reporting by the way. Hard to read, but difficult to put down once you start. [1] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...
It's becoming a logistical problem in Switzerland to have so little replacement as they've aged.
There aren't enough to warrant many centers anymore, but each closing means some would have travel further, possibly dropping out.
The US doesn't have to worry about these kinds of problems.. or about who will buy it's newly acquired crop domestically with veterans such as the one in the article coming home with trauma and addictions.
Still, a little sad for the US if Portugal and Switzerland are the first signs of European dominos -- Russian and domestic customers can't make strong demand for agriculture at US scale.. Asia is too brutal about drugs and Africa too poor..
Continued financial support for Afghanistan and less black money for operations. Is this an example of nothing is ever easy or of nothing ever goes to plan..
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#8Addendum to The Great Universal Basic Income Debate : A large portion of UBI funds will get dumped into places like this.
Please don't take HN on offtopic tangents unless it's in a little-discussed and curious direction. The last thing we need is for threads to get sucked into the black holes of generic flamewar topics.
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#9A problem that could easily be solved by simply prescribing them all heroin. This was successful when it was done in the UK ( https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-case-for-prescription-her... ) although of course the government eventually shut it down.
Not just the UK. Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands too.
The Netherlands had a very bad heroin epidemic in the 90's which has virtually disappeared thanks to this approach.
The two main takeaways in my opinion are: Treat heroin addiction as a health issue instead of a criminal issue and don't just give out heroin, always couple it with social services, treatment, etc.
Note that this approach mostly solves the visible issues. Encampments with heroin users are gone, along with all the trash, safety issues and health issues. The addicts are still addicts but the enormous cost to the community and the health of the users is enormously lessened. Also, because there's nearly no business for drug dealers anymore, there are virtually no new users. Nearly all heroin users in The Netherlands are over 40 years of age.
There are clearly huge benefits to this approach. However, according to some addicts there is also a downside. Now that there's a great way to solve all the visible issues, there is less of a focus on getting the addicts clean they say.
See:
1. https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/07/in_amsterd...
2. https://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/heroin-assisted-treatment-switz...
3. https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/xwp74q/only-in-the-nethe...
4. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/treating-h...
Re: Trapped by the ‘Walmart of Heroin’
#10Philly Proud